Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Just this fanfiction.

DRACO

Getting Hermione to fall in love with him had started as a game. One of the many games that Draco had to entertain himself and forget his pathetic life. But nothing had turned out the way he expected.

Hermione had been his tutor for more than a month. They had spent many hours locked in that damn library without anyone interrupting them - he had given express orders to his brothers to not disturbed them – Draco had invited her several times through hints that any girl would understand and whenever he could he tried to get closer to her, touching her or smiling at her; but she either didn't notice or didn't want to give in to him.

At first Draco believed that it was a matter of time before she was wrapped around his finger, but he realized that this wasn't the case.

Then he began to wonder if perhaps Hermione didn't find him attractive - something that was unimaginable to him - or if she was already in love with someone else. Potter maybe.

The almost obsessive rivalry he felt towards the green-eyed boy brought out the worst in him, so he decided to follow her one afternoon that he knew she would meet with Potter. He wanted to see if Hermione was always so quiet and serious.

Draco watched them all afternoon as they walked through a photography exhibition and the dinner that followed. Hermione's attitude confused him. In Potter's company she was so smiling and talkative, so different from the way she behaved during the tutoring sessions.

Just to be sure, the blonde followed them on a couple more dates and it was always the same. Harry and Hermione went so far as to link their arms or spend hours in the boy's room, not to mention that he always accompanied her back to the sorority.

None of this situation made sense to Draco the more he thought about it.

A Monday afternoon he decided to try again, "How was your weekend?" he asked sitting beside her.

"Calm", she answered curtly before giving him a notebook, "Your exams start tomorrow so I took the liberty of selecting these exercises for us to practice".

Always straight to the point, Draco thought annoyed taking the notebook and going over the exercises.

They spent the next two hours revising all the exercises Hermione had proposed and also the previous classes they had studied. At the end of the session, Draco felt fully prepared for his exam. "And we're done", she said yawning and putting away her books.

"Now that we are free", Draco started without wanting to give up, "Maybe we could go have a drink, don't you think?"

"I don't think so", she replied, "Truth is that I have pending tasks. See you later Draco".

Hermione stood up immediately and walked to the door of the library. She was about to leave but turned to him. Draco smiled, believing that upon second thought she would accept his offer, but he was wrong, "I know you'll do very well but good luck anyway Draco", she said before leaving the place.

An involuntary smile planted on the blonde's face and remained there until he reached his room, thinking that no girl had ever said anything like that to him.

That weekend, after the exams were over, he decided to go out with his brothers to a bar to celebrate. To his surprise, he met Ginny at the counter. It had been a long time since they had seen, "Ginevra Weasley", he greeted with a smirk.

"Draco Malfoy", Draco ordered two shots of tequila and handed one to Ginny. She raised one of her eyebrows at him but accepted the drink, "I heard you started your classes with Hermione", she commented with a chuckle. He licked his lips and curved them into a smile, but he said no more, "And? Is she a good teacher? Are you improving in your classes?" The redhead insisted.

"Actually I am", he genuinely answered.

She continued, "Oh come on Draco admit it! You're already bored of her right?"

"Not at all", he answered after drinking his shot, "Hermione has turned out to be an interesting challenge".

"Interesting right", Ginny said ironically.

"I'm been honest Ginevra"

Her voice sounded bitter when she replied, "She's not interesting and she's not a challenge, she's just a novelty", Ginny drank her tequila shot.

"Jealous much?" He mocked while putting his hand in her thighs, "Beautiful, you know you're my special girl".

"Fuck off Draco", she replied, "In a few weeks you'll get over her as usual. There's nothing different about Hermione Granger".

Ginny left the counter and Draco watched her leave the bar. Her words, however, stayed on his mind.

Different, he thought.

For some reason he remembered the words the brunette had dedicated to him in their last tutoring session before the exams. "I know you'll do very well but good luck anyway Draco". She had believed in him, had trusted in his capacity.

Smiling again Draco approached the pool table at the other end of the bar, where his brothers were playing a game, "Is there room for another player?" He asked with a smile.

Theo smiled, "Sure"

"Everyone who has been slaughtered by the exams can join us", sighed Marcus as he sipped his beer bottle.

"Ah! Then I won't be able to play because I approved all of them", Draco smirked and his brothers looked at him without believing it.

"Seriously?" Crabbe asked, "Draco Malfoy passed all the exams?"

He took one of the sticks, "Brother, I am reformed". Everyone laughed and played for a long time, making jokes and talking about the girls who were filling the bar.

"Am I the only one who thinks Hannah doesn't wear knickers?" Crabbe asked looking at a blonde who had just entered the bar.

"She doesn't", Draco confirmed as he drank from his beer. His friends laughed.

"Should we bet on who sleeps with Hannah tonight?" Blaise asked suddenly, "Draco? You're in?"

He shook his head, "I'll pass, I'm a little bored of her to be honest".

The conversation continued and by the time they finished playing Draco had beaten them in every game. Feeling pleased with himself, he went with the boys to one of the tables. They ordered hamburgers and started eating. A group of girls from Hermione's sorority soon approach them, "Hello Draco", Pansy Parkinson greeted sitting on his lap without asking permission. The movement made him uncomfortable.

"Pansy", he nodded and trying not to be brusque he took her by the waist and pulled her away from his lap, "How are you?"

"Very well", she smiled seductively and moved closer until her lips brushed the boy's ear, "And I would be much better if we go to a private place".

Draco smiled but put distance between him and the girl again.

Although Pansy was cute with her short black hair and blue eyes, and Draco had had a great time with her occasionally, this time he found her irritating. Were all the girls he surrounded with an easy lay? He hadn't even had to try and she was already willing to do whatever Draco requested, "How did your exams go, Pans?" asked the blonde, diverting attention from the girl's suggestion.

"Exams? I really don't know", she shrugged, "It's not that I care too much, to tell the truth".

He raised one of her eyebrows, "Don't you?"

"No, my future does not depend on the exams".

"And what does it depend on then?"

She smiled, "Today I reached three million followers on Instagram, Draco. That means that more brands are going to notice my content. That's where my future is. Perhaps I can even turn a model".

"What if it doesn't work?"

"There's always the money from daddy dearest", she shrugged again.

Draco couldn't help but compare her to Hermione.

Hermione, who had strived for a full scholarship at college, worked hard in her classes and even had a part-time job. And then there was Pansy who, just like him, had pretty much everything on a silver platter. "Then why bother attending here?" He wanted to know.

"Because my father insisted. And I must say that I'm glad I chose this college because I was able to meet you".

She came dangerously close to Draco again, but he turned and engaged in a conversation with his brothers. The girl continued to flirt with him before giving up and turning her attention to someone else.

When Draco returned to the fraternity he went directly to the library, still thinking about his conversation with Pansy.

College, for both Parkinson and Draco, was also the next step expected; although their situations were different. He wasn't another dumb kid whose only motivation to attend college was to have fun going to parties and didn't value his education, was he? Yes, he was in a fraternity but he was a legacy. His father and grandfather had also belonged to his fraternity.

Also now that he had Hermione's help he really felt more comfortable with the classes he was taking and had even started to think about his future once he took over the Malfoy Corporation.

Draco looked at the library and thought about Granger again. Lately his thoughts guided him to her. What had Ginevra said the first time they spoke about her?

"Her idea of fun is going to the library."

Funny, considering he was standing in one, thinking about the brunette. She was truly different from the girls he used to deal with. So if he wanted to come closer to her, he had to be different as well.

So Draco decided to give up on flirting with Hermione and try to befriend her, as Potter had done.

That had to be the first step.

Draco began to observe her more closely in class: her gestures, the sighs she made when she got frustrated by some exercise, the way she brought her eyebrows together when explaining a new topic, as well as the habit of moving the pen between her fingers thinking about something, or the way she bit her lips when she was nervous. This last habit in particular disturbed him greatly, to the point that one afternoon he spent several minutes observing Hermione's lips and wondering how they would feel or what they would taste like.

At some point he stopped undressing Hermione with his gaze every time she arrived at the house, and instead started to notice her chocolate eyes or her bushy dark hair that she used to tie in a careless bun when an exercise was particularly difficult.

And her apple shampoo. Apples? Really? That was the first thing he thought when he smelled it the first time. But then he decided it suited her: sweet and intoxicating. Her apple scent remained with him for hours after the lessons.

But even if he no longer tormented her with invitations to go out, he couldn't break the ice of his relationship with her. And that bothered him deeply, because he also started to stop having fun at parties with his brothers. His usual easy lays now seemed boring and Draco no longer enjoyed going out with them.

One Monday night he followed Harry and Hermione again in one of their dates.

And it was there that he realized that he actually envied Potter.

He could hug the brunette and make her laugh, while Draco hadn't made her laugh once. Furthermore, Hermione seemed very happy with Harry, and not nervous as she did when she was with him. A sudden desire to approach them and take Hermione away with him invaded Draco, but in the end he turned around and returned the fraternity.

He spent awake the whole night thinking about Hermione, convinced that he could also make her laugh. For some reason he still didn't fully understand, he wanted to get closer to Hermione, wanted to see her happy. He wanted for her to trust in him.

He wanted her by his side.

And it had to be soon because the Christmas holidays were approaching and she was probably leaving campus. Draco decided he would talk to her in his class on Thursday and, with a smile on his face, he managed to fall asleep.

It was Thursday afternoon and Hermione was quite late, something unusual for her. Draco was waiting for her on the front porch of the house as he scanned the street, quite eager for the prospect this afternoon.

Suddenly a taxi stopped outside the house and Hermione and Harry got out of it. Draco's expression immediately turned hostile and he stood stiffly as he watched Hermione rush toward him, "I'm so sorry Draco", her face was pale from the cold mid-December wind, "I promise it won't happen again, I'm really sorry".

He wanted to tell her that everything was fine, that he wasn't angry at waiting for her, but because she had arrived with Potter but then the latter interrupted them, "Don't be too hard on her Draco. It's my fault that we were late", he smiled, as if remembering something particularly amusing and this ended up annoying Draco.

"You better go Potter", he replied staring at him, "Hermione and I have many things to do".

The green-eyed boy was about to said something but Hermione interrupted him, "I'll see you later, ok Harry? Thanks again", she smiled and turned to Draco, "Shall we come in?"

Draco nodded and stepped aside, letting Hermione enter the house. He wanted to go back to say something to Harry but in the end he just followed Hermione to the study, "Again, I'm very sorry Draco", she said while letting her coat on the sofa. She was wearing a maroon sweater tighter than usual, he realized, "I think that you should discount this session from the weekly payment"

"There's no need of that Hermione", he smiled to reassure her. But it was a different smile from the ones he used to offer her before. It was a sincere and real smile.

She looked at him, confused, but in the end she just nodded and sat in her usual place. Hermione began to explain the new biology topics, but Draco kept thinking about how he could tell Hermione that he had been thinking a lot about her in the last week.

In the end he gathered courage but something very different came out of his mouth, "Were you and Harry on a date?" He asked in a slightly more abrupt tone than he intended.

The girl looked at him with a shocked expression painted on her pretty face, caused by the sudden question, "It wasn't a date", she answered.

"Can I know what you guys did?"

She bite her lips and Draco had to stir uneasily in his seat, "Oh... we went to grab lunch and then to an special movie feature".

"Sounds like a date to me", he pointed out.

"We're just friends, it wasn't a date", she also pointed out.

He nodded, "Just friends, ok".

Hermione was silent for a few seconds and in the end continued explaining the topic. Draco was dying to ask something, but he believed it was better not to push the brunette. For a while, he tried to focus on the exercises but he failed and finally released his question, "Would you go out on a date with me?"

She turned to see him, unable to believe what she was hearing. Draco held her gaze trying to convey how much he wanted her to accept, "A date?" He nodded, "Stop joking, Draco", she looked away.

"I'm not Hermione. I want you to go out on a date with me", he wouldn't give up.

"I don't think it's a good idea", she replied at the end.

"Is it with Potter?" He wanted to know.

"I already told you that I'm not going on dates with him. Harry is my friend, we go out just as friends".

"Then go out with me too", he asked taking Hermione's soft hand in his, "We could go to dinner and then have a drink or dance".

"Dancing isn't exactly my thing", she said softly as she withdrew her hand.

"Then we do whatever you want", he added instantly, "Please?"

There was a long pause when Hermione seemed to be in a fight with herself before nodding. Draco gave her a huge smile and she ended up smiling too, "Do you have some place in mind?" He asked, excited.

"Well… there's a place we can go before this Saturday. I'm traveling in the weekend because of the holidays".

"Are you going to Chicago to see your family?"

"I am. Thanks to you actually", she smiled with bright eyes and Draco felt his heart skip a beat, "Because of this job I was able to save enough money to purchase the plane tickets"

"You deserve to be with your family", he said, brushing Hermione's cheek with his knuckles for a second. The gesture took her by surprise but she didn't move away, for which he was grateful, "So, where are we going on Friday?"

Hermione seemed to wake up from her reverie, "Well...", she bit her lip, "There is a special exhibition at the planetarium tomorrow night. A show about constellations and mythology", she seemed very excited, "But if it sounds boring to you…"

He replied immediately, "Not at all, I like the idea".

"Are you sure?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Completely", he smiled, "What time does the show begins?"

"Seven o'clock"

"So I should pick you up at half past six?" He asked. The planetarium wasn't so far away from campus.

She blushed, "Sure, that would be nice".

The next hour of class was quite odd. Neither of them was completely focused and they didn't make much progress. Draco said goodbye to Hermione on the front porch, reminding her of their date on Friday. She smiled nervously and then left.

On Friday Draco woke up in an excellent mood. This mood, though, was almost overshadowed when Lucius called asking to have lunch together, in order to congratulate Draco on his good grades. The young Malfoy had to accept the invitation, so he drove for two hours to meet his father at his favorite restaurant.

Lunch was extremely boring. Lucius started by congratulating Draco on his improvement and went on to the typical "you must be more responsible, mature and bear the weight of being the heir to the Malfoy Family" speech. At three in the afternoon Draco was eager to get out of the restaurant, and luckily his father didn't linger any longer and managed to separate from him when he left the restaurant.

But luck didn't seem to be in his favor.

The highway was completely crowded and it was almost five when he managed to get out of town. Draco tried to drive as fast as he could but suddenly the car broke down and he had to park.

After several attempts nothing seemed to work but the blonde had no way to call the insurance company for his phone has run out of battery. Eventually a driver took pity on him and helped him. But by then it was already past seven.

Draco borrowed the man's phone but then realized that he didn't have Hermione's number, nor did he know the number of Harry, Ginny or one of his fraternity brothers. Defeated he gave the phone back, said goodbye to the man thanking him and entered his car, cursing everyone.

He wanted to hit someone to release his anger but he had to settle with hitting the car's wheel. By the time he got to campus it was close to ten at night.

Before going to the house he went to the planetarium, praying inwardly that Hermione had decided to go alone to the show or even with Harry. But when Draco arrived the exhibition was over. Without wasting time he drove back to the house.

By chance, he arrived at the same time that a taxi dropped Hermione in front of her sorority. She was almost entering the house, "Hermione!" He called her and she turned immediately. When she saw him, she returned to the sidewalk, where he approached her, "I'm really so sorry, but you have no idea all the things I went through today. My car broke down and it took me hours to fix it and..."

She smiled, but her expression was filled with sadness, "It's ok. I understand, it's ok".

"You do?" Draco swallowed hard.

"Things happen for a reason right?" She tried to sound amused.

"Hermione if you give me half an hour to get ready, we can still go to eat something or have a coffee or something like that", he said.

"I don't think so Draco", she fixed her hair, "I still have a lot of things to pack and I won't have enough time if I don't start right now".

Draco didn't insist because Hermione's voice sounded quite firm.

He stared at her for a few minutes and realized that she had put on a very tight and pretty red coat; she was also wearing makeup, something she hardly ever used. Draco ended up feeling like an idiot, "Can I at least take you to the airport tomorrow?" He asked softly.

"Harry is taking me", she replied, "He's also visiting his family so we'll take a cab, but thanks anyway Draco".

"Harry, right", he smirked and said nothing.

"Yeah so… goodbye Draco. I'll see you later", she waved at him and walked toward her house, but halfway she turned, "I almost forget", she said taking a small package of her bag, "I bought this for you. Happy Holidays Draco".

And without giving him a chance to say anything, she strode back to the house.

Draco didn't move from the sidewalk even when she disappeared behind the front door of the house. He wanted to run after Hermione, hug her and apologize a thousand times for missing the date. But he stood with the package in his hands staring some point in the ground, remembering Hermione's sad smile.

Draco didn't know how long he stood there, only that he reacted when he heard the loud voices of his brothers and several girls who were partying before leaving for the holidays.

Some of the brothers greeted him but he just ignored them, entered the house and locked himself in his room. He carefully placed the package on the bed and then began to hit the boxing bag he had for exercise with great force. By the time he finished his hands were red and several of his knuckles had been injured.

After that Draco took a long bath still thinking about how lovely Hermione looked and how he had ruined everything.

The next morning a car sent by his father picked him up to take him to the airport where he would leave for New York, which was the destination chosen this year to spend the holidays.

Draco was in a bad mood the entire trip, which caused him problems with his father when he arrived at the huge apartment in Manhattan where they lived. Not even seeing his mother put him in a better mood. It also didn't help that Narcissa and Lucius got back into their usual fights. So Draco preferred to lock himself in his room, ignoring the meetings his father wanted to drag him into, and just looking at the package Hermione had given him.

He still hadn't dared to open it, and although he was dying to, he had said to himself that he would wait until Christmas morning.

In a way, and now that he had calmed down a bit more, the thrill of the gift filled him completely. It had been many years since his parents had given him a gift for Christmas. Technically he didn't even spend Christmas with them, since there was usually a big party their parents were offering for important businessman and politicians. Draco was used to these parties; he had grown up in that environment.

After dinner and the traditional Christmas Eve toast, Draco excused himself to his parents and guests and returned to the apartment. He changed his formal clothes for something more comfortable and after ordering a cup of hot chocolate, he sat in his room with the package in his hands.

He sighed with excitement and tore the wrapping paper, which had Santa Claus designs on it.

The gift was a book.

Two books, actually, both by Jules Verne: "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Around the World in Eighty Days". Draco smiled because it was a typical Hermione present. There was a note inside the book. He unfolded it and read it

Draco

You mentioned, in one of our classes, that you would like to be free to explore the world; so I thought that you should have these so, in a way, you could do it.

Happy Holidays

Hermione

PS: The stone on the necklace it's supposed to be magical… although I'm not so sure it's true.

Draco took a closer look at the wrapping paper and noticed a leather bag. He opened it and from it fell a silver necklace with a medium-sized charm that showed a green stone inside it. It was beautiful and elegant, and it would fit the clothes he usually wore.

Draco spent the rest of the vacation reading the books Hermione had given him. Against all odds, he found them interesting and entertaining.

When it was time to board the plane back to Massachusetts, Draco was proudly wearing Hermione's gift, and was beginning to read another of Verne's book. When he landed on Sunday afternoon, he was convinced that he should be totally honest with the girl to try to win her over.

No more games or machinations. Just good intentions, for that was all Hermione deserved.

A/N: I want to say thank you to the readers that added this story to their favorite list or are following the updated.

This was also a Dramione chapter and the next two will probably be Dramione focused as well.

Hope you're all safe and healthy. Next chap on sunday :)

PS: also I suck at naming chapters, so I'm sorry about that. If you have a better name for this chap please let me know. Please don't forget to review. I would love to read your thoughts.